Alessandro Del Piero double not enough for Sydney FC

Italian Iacopo La Rocca scored the winner for new boys Western Sydney as superstar compatriot Alessandro Del Piero grabbed a dazzling double yet lost in this weekend's Australian A-League action.

Written by Agence-France Presse

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Sydney:

Italian Iacopo La Rocca scored the winner for new boys Western Sydney as superstar compatriot Alessandro Del Piero grabbed a dazzling double yet lost in this weekend's Australian A-League action.

La Rocca's header in the 15th minute proved the winner for Tony Popovic's Wanderers in a 1-0 win at Perth Glory on Sunday to move into the top five in their maiden season.

Italian World Cup winner Del Piero was outstanding with two classic strikes but it was still not enough to save troubled Sydney FC from plunging to a 4-2 loss against champions Brisbane Roar on Friday.

Del Piero, 38, netted twice in seven minutes, scoring a cracking volley from outside the box and then playing a sweet one-two before dummying his way past goalkeeper Michael Theo to claim his brace and his fifth goal of the season.

Sydney, who lost coach Ian Crook last week, and are on the lookout for their seventh coach in as many years.

Adelaide United remain the leaders of the competition following their 1-0 win over John Aloisi's Melbourne Heart at home on Saturday.

Argentine Jeronimo Neumann was gifted the Reds' match-winner by a blunder from defender Simon Colosimo.

Ten-man Central Coast Mariners held on for a 2-2 draw against Melbourne Victory in Melbourne on Saturday.

The Mariners' Dutch defender Patrick Zwaanswijk was red-carded in the 50th minute after both sides scored two goals each in the first half.

Jeremy Brockie, the Jets' top scorer last season, returned to haunt his former club as New Zealand's Wellington Phoenix pulled off a 3-0 win over Newcastle on Sunday.

It was Wellington's sixth straight win over Newcastle and lifted them off the bottom of the standings.